Oscar Pistorius Tells Court How He Shot Girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp

As his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was buried at her hometown on South Africa’s south coast Tuesday, Oscar Pistorius wept uncontrollably in court as his lawyer, Barry Roux, read out his account of how he shot and killed her. Rejecting the prosecution charge of premeditated murder, Pistorius stated in an affidavit at the Pretoria Magistrates Court: “I fail to understand how I could be charged with murder, let alone premeditated murder, as I had no intention to kill my girlfriend. Nothing can be further from the truth. I deny the allegation in the strongest terms.”

Pistorius, the 26-year-old Olympian and Paralympian sprinter, one of the stars of the London Olympics and nicknamed the Blade Runner for his carbon-fiber prosthetics, then described the hours before the shooting at his house in Pretoria on Feb. 14. The couple had planned to go out separately with different friends but Steenkamp, 30, called to ask if the two might spend a quiet evening at home. Steenkamp gave Pistorius a Valentine’s Day present and asked him to save it for the next day. By 10 p.m., the couple were in their bedroom. “She was doing her yoga exercises and I was in bed watching television,” Pistorius’ statement read. “My prosthetic legs were off. We were deeply in love and I could not be happier. I know she felt the same way. After Reeva finished her yoga exercises she got into bed and we both fell asleep.”

Pistorius added he was “acutely aware” of South Africa’s violent crime. “I have received death threats before. I have also been a victim of violence and of burglaries before. For that reason I kept my firearm, a 9-mm Parabellum, underneath my bed when I [go] to bed at night.”

He continued: “During the early morning hours of 14 February 2013, I woke up, went onto the balcony to bring the fan in and closed the sliding doors, the blinds and the curtains. I heard a noise in the bathroom and realized that someone was in the bathroom.

“I felt a sense of terror rushing over me. There are no burglar bars across the bathroom window and I knew that contractors who worked at my house had left the ladders outside. Although I did not have my prosthetic legs on I have mobility on my stumps.

“I believed that someone had entered my house. I was too scared to switch a light on.

“I grabbed my 9-mm pistol from underneath my bed. On my way to the bathroom I screamed words to the effect for him/them to get out of my house and for Reeva to phone the police. It was pitch dark in the bedroom and I thought Reeva was in bed.

“I noticed that the bathroom window was open. I realized that the intruder/s was/were in the toilet because the toilet door was closed. I heard movement inside the toilet. I thought he or they must have entered through the unprotected window. It filled me with horror and fear. As I did not have my prosthetic legs on and felt extremely vulnerable, I knew I had to protect Reeva and myself.

“I fired shots at the toilet door and shouted to Reeva to phone the police. She did not respond and I moved backwards out of the bathroom, keeping my eyes on the bathroom entrance. Everything was pitch dark in the bedroom and I was still too scared to switch on a light. Reeva was not responding.

“When I reached the bed, I realized that Reeva was not in bed. That is when it dawned on me that it could have been Reeva who was in the toilet. I returned to the bathroom calling her name. I tried to open the toilet door but it was locked. I rushed back into the bedroom and opened the sliding door exiting onto the balcony and screamed for help.

“I put on my prosthetic legs, ran back to the bathroom and tried to kick the toilet door open. I think I must then have turned on the lights. I went back into the bedroom and grabbed my cricket bat to bash open the toilet door. A panel or panels broke off and I found the key on the floor and unlocked and opened the door. Reeva was slumped over but alive.”

Pistorius then described how he telephoned the housing-estate administrator, asked him to call an ambulance, then carried Steenkamp downstairs to the front door. “A doctor who lives in the complex also arrived,” he said. “Downstairs, I tried to render the assistance to Reeva that I could, but she died in my arms.”

Pistorius wept throughout the reading of his testimony; at one point, Magistrate Desmond Nair suspended proceedings to allow Pistorius to collect himself. The court also heard testimonies from two friends of the couple, including her best friend, Samantha Greyvenstein, that the couple were in love and had separately confided to their friends that they were considering marriage. “I am absolutely mortified by the events and the devastating loss of my beloved Reeva,” Pistorius concluded. “I cannot bear to think of the suffering I have caused her and her family, knowing how much she was loved.” He added that he trusted the courts would clear him of murder. Pistorius added he earned $630,000 a year, had savings of $112,000 and owned four properties, including the house where the shooting occurred, worth $930,000.

The hearing, centered on Pistorius’ application for bail, was due to resume Wednesday.

Burma and Bangladesh don't want them , I don't see Shri Lanka offering them refuge. Where do they go? How sad . The UN should do something. I always thought the people of Myanmar was a peace loving and Buddhist nation. Where is the compassion? What would the Buddha do in this situation? That is what the people of Myanmar should ask themselves.

why did he shoot at all? let's say he did have a good faith belief that there was someone in the bathroom locked- just tell him to come out, if he doesn't call police. and wait for them to come. say ' i have a gun'. shoot only if 'he' comes out. he argues like it's self evident he had no choice but to kill the 'intruder'- no he didn't.

Key on floor outside the door on his side of the door? How dark was it in bedroom, police videotape that morning? Try match conditions and go back and videotape without lights. Went to get gun from under the bed and 1) did not notice the woman was not in bed then, before heading to do shooting; and 2) he didn't try to "wake" her up and run or get behind him, or go out on the balcony... or converse with her in any way about the "break-in", grab her and go with her downstairs while calling for police on cellphone, or just trying to get outdoors away from the noisy burglar/hit person?; and 3) locked toilet door, customary?

More likely they fought, she ran to the toilet, locker the door to keep him away no realizing he was going to get gun and fire through the door.

I find many parts of his story, as related here, very inconsistent with natural instinct and logic. Many of these inconsistencies have been pointed out by others in their comments. My focus is on the claim that he "shouted" to his girl friend to call the police. I would rather have thought the natural thing anyone would do in such a situation is to hush or whisper such an instruction so as not to draw the attention of the intruder to the fact that you are awake or that you have a companion with you to call the police. Why would you shout such an instruction? To what goal? Even if your partner was asleep and you needed to wake him or her up quickly, you still would not need to shout but quietly and firmly try to shake or tap the person to wake up. You might even be careful to place your hand lightly over your partner's mouth to avoid him/her suddenly making unwanted noise as he/she is awoken. In your attempt at these you would definitely have noticed that your partner is not in bed. His claim of feeling vulnerable because he was not wearing his prosthetic legs should have even the more made him to seek and confirm the active participation of his girlfriend in combating the intruder rather than going alone to combat the supposed intruder while still on his stumps as he claims. Someone feeling that vulnerable will not advance forward to the bathroom as he claims he did. I am not sure his lawyers thought out his defense statement very well at all. Too many holes.

If his story is true, did it not occur to him that his shouting did not wake her up (if he truly believed she was in the bed next to him) so that she would sit up and ask him "What's going on? What are you doing? What should I do? Should I call the police?" She didn't wake up startled, because she wasn't there - and he knew it.

She was in the bathroom. The first time he shouted (before firing a gun), no doubt she would have shouted back, or at least said something. This would have alerted him there was no intruder.

The first shot would have absolutely elicited a response from her - probably even a very loud scream. It's easy to imagine her screaming, "Stop! What are you doing?!? It's me! You've shot me! Stop! I need medical help!"

And yet there is no mention on his part of hearing a sound from her, either from the bed or from the bathroom.

Aside from the inconsistencies of his (Pistorius') story, another thing to point out is ... what would be his motive for killing his girlfriend? Did he find out that she was cheating? Is this the tragic outcome of a Lover's Quarrel? Was she threatening to leave him. If she was I can only imagine how this played upon his confidence. Granted, he might have been an Olympian, however he's still a paraplegic. And I can only assume that he still suffers from some insecurities, especially in dealing with relationships.

There is always a reason for murder.

I don't think money was an issue here because she was just his girlfriend, not a wife or a soon-to-be ex-wife out for her husband's money.

The BIGGEST OBVIOUS HOLE in his bs story is that he shouted to the "intruder" to get out and he shouted to the gf to call the police? That is the shouting they're claiming the witnesses must have heard, right? If he was that damn loud that neighbors from a distance heard him, his girlfriend who was actually the "intruder" in the bathroom DEFINITELY heard this. If all things were as fine between them as he makes it seem, obviously she would've responded with something to the effect of "no, it's not an intruder... it's me." I really hope that this is also as plain as day to the jury because this mf should pay for the young life he took away.

hm...that's strange really. I never lock the bathroom door when I'm with my bf. I close it but never lock.

He says "i realized that the intruder in the toilet because the toilet door was closed", so if to believe his story, himself he found it strange that it's closed, so Reeva never closed the toilet door before, so why would she close it this time? so it must've been something really serious for her to lock her in there and I think she did it because she was hiding there from him and his cricket bat, she had nowhere else to run. Maybe she thought he would calm down in a while. But he pissed off completely, then he got a plan, he closed balcony door, the sliding doors the blinds and even curtains so neigboors woudn't hear or see anything and then he took the gun and ...

And also what is strange is that he wasn't affraid to go out in the middle of the night to the balcony without legs and bring fan in.

Probably he hit her with bat in the bedroom or even shot her to the hip and then she ran away, she was still alive. And he thought that it wouldn't be good for his career if she would talk about it and that moment decided to kill her with a story of intruder. He thought it would be believable. And there is a chance that he can walk away free and everybody would pitty him for this accident. It would be different if she would be alive and talk about that night. Also he didn't cry when he realized that he killed his love, but he did cry when he heard that he will be charged for a murder. Ok, i'm not a detective or something.... its just logic says that it couldn't have been an accident.

The sadist of all this is only he and God knows the real truth of that night, if he is innocent he needs to be free but if guilty he needs to be punished pity death sentence was taken away i say if you have the balls to take a life you need to have the balls to give yours.

One more hole. He says he got up in the middle of the night without his legs on to bring a fan in. First off, was it hot in his luxury apartment? Did he not have air conditioning? How many people bring in a fan from the balcony when they can't sleep at night? It's possible, but here's the kicker. He does this without his legs. He decides to bring in a fan when he has to hobble around (I assume) to get it. There's a Youtube video showing him putting his carbon legs on in about 30 seconds flat. (No buckling required.) Wouldn't it be easier to throw on his legs so he could walk around the condominium? What's more, he had only dated this beautiful woman for a few months. Had this 26 year old become so comfortable with her that he's willing to let her see him at a height of 4.5 feet (my estimation) moving around his home with great difficulty? I doubt it. He even says in his testimony that he feels vulnerable without his legs. There are just too many implausible pieces to this story. It's terribly sad for Reeva Steenkamp's family, and I hope that they will eventually find some sort of peace.

I know BS when I hear it. I would NEVER be so scared of a closed door that I would shoot first and check on the love of my life later. This is such an obvious lie that only the enamored of celebrityhood could swallow without choking

I don't buy his story, it doesn't make sense that he would just shot and not make sure it was not his girlfriend in the toilet. And he said he went back to the bed to get his gun but didn't check then to make sure she was in the bed and ok. Yeah right dude, i watch enough Law & Order and CSI to know that this story is not right.

I blame the loss of his legs for the entire ordeal. He was way out of his league thinking he would be able to maintain the relationship without having his stride. These two probably never saw eye to eye on anything.

Why are people so trust worthy of cripples? What ever happen to all of the handicap villains? Remember the Man with One Arm from the Fugitive? Or what about Captain Hook, he was missing a hand for Christ's sake. Didn't Paul McCartney's former wife, the one who was missing a leg, turn out to be a real gold digging bitch? This guy is obviously a criminal master mind. When will they learn that you just can't feel sorry for these types of people? Differently Abled my ass.

There are so many holes in his story. First, who would sit in a toilet room as someone is yelling at a supposed intruder and yet say nothing? Pistorius is yelling, telling the intruder to come out of the toilet room and Reeva says nothing? How likely it that? Second, after he shot 4 times through the door, he says that he went back to the bed and only then realized that Reeva was not there. Therefore, even after putting 4 shots through the bathroom door, Reeva STILL could not screamed. Are you telling me that, even while shots were coming into the toiler room, Reeva said nothing? This story is just too unbelievable. I just do not believe him and any prosecuter with his/her salt will blow holes right through this story. No wonder they have said that they feel very confident about their case against him.

It sounded like the bathroom had a door and a separate toilet room inside the bathroom with its own door.

I think they argued as screaming was heard by the neighbor(s). The argument started in the bedroom. He threatened her with the cricket bat, she ran into the bathroom to hide because it's the only room in the house that could be locked while he gave chase. In anger, banged on the door, kicked the door, broke it open. More terrified for her life, she went hiding in the last place available, the toilet room, locked it. His anger climaxed, no more need to break down door so he went to get the gun. She screamed. He knew where her voice was coming from, aimed, fired four shots through the locked door, killed her with three. If her skull were fractured by the bat, it would be an act of a murderous fauny monster. Pistorius should get the death penalty if the bat was also used to murder the second time.

The rest of his story, "died in my arms, intruder, ..." was just BS acting to get an Oscar.

more to the point if he says is true, the first thing I'm sure he would have noticed is that Reeva was missing. Also I'm sure if it was me at the point at the window and if I heard a noise coming from the bathroom I would have looked back at the bed and whispered Reeva's name. The gun was under the bed he says? Then I'm sure he would have noticed that Reeva was missing.

Also, most people would check to see if their loved one was OK. It would have been easy for him to whisper something to her as he grabbed the gnu under the bed - based on his scenario he gave. You would want to warn them. This smells oh so fishy.

@AnonyMous1234 wow SA clearly seems like a horrible place to live. AIDs, racism interesting! the country hasn't moved on, still stuck in the past, where race is such a big issue. i guess you being in a third world country keeps you feeling like its 1945 still. really interesting and funny

@boots@DeyanzaJHanna I haven't but i'm guessing that's where you live. I might be wrong about thinking he is guilty but his story has alot of holes in it. I don't see this case going well for him with that story. Even if he really thought it was a robber, why would a robber lock himself in the toilet and if he did, wouldn't you think, ok he must be unarmed. I just can't see how one would shot before making sure a loved one in the same room was ok first or at least wake that person to have them phone for help. But again that's just me. So you being from South Africa, why is it that you believe his story, is this a common occurrence?

@thewholetruth@Skimaan Actually it reeks of domestic abuse. She probably did nothing to piss him off, he pissed himself off and blamed here. If he did it, and if there was prior abuse, then this is just another sad case of domestic abuse. Nothing more, nothing less.